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“ovation-worthy solos” - All About Jazz

“flowed in a contemplative, somber vein, now and then building to moments of ferocious intensity” - The New York Times, on Korten's appearance with the Tyshawn Sorey Sextet

Critic’s choice: best pianists of 2020 - El Intruso 13th annual critics poll

“[among] some of the top Jazz talents in New York City” - Broadway World

“Counterpoint phrases and a whiff of dissonance prove to be rhetorical devices Korten is prone to, as the pianist's other, nimble-fingered contribution proves—singling his compositional approach out as an especially distinct kind.” - All About Jazz

“impeccable musicianship and characterful playing” - All About Jazz

Bandleaders of Note (Incomplete)

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  • Melissa Aldana

  • Dayna Stephens

  • Morgan Guerin

  • Ben Solomon

  • Stacy Dillard

  • Jerome Sabbagh

  • Kenji Lee

  • Dylan Band

  • Riley Stone-Lonergan

  • Alex Hitchcock

  • Kazemde George

  • Helena Kay

  • Elijah Jamal Balbed

  • Evan Harris

  • Lluc Casares Adobe

  • Linda Sikhakhane

  • Marcus Elliot

  • Rachel Mazer

  • Stephen Grady, Jr.

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  • ​Jaleel Shaw

  • Caroline Davis

  • Kasan Belgrave

  • Nicola Caminiti

  • Alfredo Colon

  • Alden Hellmuth

  • Zoe Obadia

  • Nicole McCabe

  • David Leon
  • Nathan Reising

  • Benny Rubin, Jr.

  • Shai Golan

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  • Jasper Dütz

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  • Milena Casado

  • Dave Adewumi

  • Linda Briceño

  • Davy Lazar

  • Kali Rodriguez Peña

  • Dwight Adams

  • Max Boiko

  • Allen Dennard 

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  • Chris Turner

  • Tahira Clayton

  • Olivia Chindamo

  • Brendan Asante

  • Sami Stevens

  • Tatiana Eva-Marie

  • Lauren Scales

  • Arianna Neikrug

  • Gina D'Soto

  • Chelsea Lee

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  • Yotam Ben-Or

  • Roni Eytan

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  • Joel Ross

  • Sasha Berliner

  • Simon Moullier

  • Juan Diego Villalobos

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  • Mike Moreno

  • Jonathan Kreisberg

  • Vinicius Gomes

  • Yoav Eshed

  • Roy Ben Bashat

  • Flávio Silva

  • Talia Rubenstein

  • Nick Pennington

  • Olin Clark

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  • Robert Hurst

  • Massimo Biolcati

  • Ron Brooks

  • Or Bareket

  • Tyrone Allen

  • Adam Olszewski

  • Ben Tiberio

  • Hannah Marks

  • Nick Dunston

  • George Delancey

  • Alex Claffy

  • Hamish Smith

  • Logan Kane

  • Marcos Varela

  • Dan Montgomery

  • Cole Davis

  • Giuseppe Cucchiara

  • Paul "PapaBear" Johnson

  • Mikey Migliore

  • Ben Rolston

  • Tim Norton

  • Alon Near

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  • Tyshawn Sorey

  • Ari Hoenig

  • Joe Farnsworth

  • Clarence Penn

  • George Davidson

  • Jongkuk Kim

  • Kweku Sumbry

  • Luther Allison

  • Evan Hyde

  • Karl-Henrik Ousbäck

  • Gary Kerkezou

  • Kayvon Gordon

  • Stephen Boegehold

  • Philippe Lemm

  • Jonathan Barahal Taylor

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  • Jihye Lee

  • Darcy James Argue

  • Liberté-Anne Lymberiou

  • Matt Wong

  • Eliana Fishbeyn

  • Robert Buonaspina

Photography by Tom Henning

About Lex

Lex Korten is an award winning pianist and composer from New York City who has become an integral voice in the contemporary Jazz and improvised music scene in his home city and worldwide. Lex’s name has appeared in the New York Times and Vogue, and he’s found himself in demand from great musical luminaries including Tyshawn Sorey, Jaleel Shaw, Mike Moreno, Melissa Aldana, Ari Hoenig, Jonathan Kreisberg, Caroline Davis, Clarence Penn and Joel Ross as well as a near-comprehensive list of his own generation’s most fearless bandleaders in Black American Music. 

 

Lex has had ample opportunity to learn from some of the most dedicated and loving mentors in the piano pantheon, most formatively with Geri Allen and Benny Green. To help represent America’s great original art form, a music with social purpose and irrevocable partnership with African-American heritage, is a privilege and responsibility Lex strives to fulfill every day. He has been fortunate enough to perform internationally in service of this message and the betterment of his craft, and at an extensive list of the most lucrative festivals and clubs in the US.

 

In 2020, Lex Korten won the 2020 UNISA International Jazz Piano Competition, held in South Africa, and released his solo piano debut “Foreword” the following year. He is fortunate to have had a longstanding relationship with The Jazz Gallery in NYC where he continues to lead new projects regularly; more recently, he’s brought his groups to other renowned stages including Smalls, Mezzrow, Kitano, Ornithology, Bar LunÁtico and The Django. Lex has taught pianists from all over the world privately and through The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

Full Bio

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        Lex Korten (b. 1994) was born and raised in New York City. Surrounded by an enormous rotating library of music in the household, Lex fell in love with Jazz around the age of 10 after being exposed to the sounds of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He found his first mentor, Brooks Hartell, through the backpack newsletter of his elementary school (P.S. 87), and was guided into the life-changing discoveries of Wynton Kelly and Jaki Byard, amongst many other lifelong heroes. Lex’s development continued at the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California for 6 summers; he also studied throughout high school with Taylor Eigsti and eventually Fred Hersh. Lex was awarded by the National YoungArts Foundation for Jazz Piano/Composition before graduating in 2012 from the High School for Math, Science and Engineering in Harlem.

 

       Lex attended the University of Michigan to study with Geri Allen while pursuing a dual degree in political science. His years of close proximity with the scene and history of Detroit marked an extremely transformative period, thanks also to a tight group of inspired peers and an unforgettable cross-collaborative community in Ann Arbor. Lex was mentored closely for two years by renowned pianist Benny Green and also learned from Marcus Belgrave, Robert Hurst, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe and Rodney Whitaker in the classroom and on the bandstand.

 

        After graduating with his BFA in Jazz Studies in 2016, Lex Korten returned to New York City. Since then, he has established himself as a crucial young voice drawing a common thread between many different communities surrounding Jazz and improvised music. This is shown clearly by the kind of bandleaders who are seeking him out, from Ari Hoenig to Joe Farnsworth, Caroline Davis and Tyshawn Sorey for starters. He’s lucky enough to be central in the musical activity of his generation’s most ambitious leaders including Joel Ross, Morgan Guerin, Simon Moullier, Sasha Berliner, Ben Solomon and countless others. Korten is also a prolific writer and bandleader with several ongoing projects due to be recorded soon. His solo piano debut "Foreword" released on June 18, 2021. He aims to learn from his peers, elders and youngers while continuing to compose and lend his voice to the dialogue occurring in the world of improvised Black American Music.

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       Korten has taught in an official capacity at The New School and Long Island University, and also has taught private lessons to students at prestigious conservatories including Oberlin, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Frost School of Music in Miami. He has also taught masterclasses at UNC Greensboro, the University of Rochester, the University of Michigan and LACHSA.

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       Lex Korten's performance schedule has brought him to some of the most lucrative stages in the world including: The Kennedy Center, The McCarter Theatre, The Library of Congress, Hill Auditorium, Winter Jazz Fest, Earshot Jazz Festival, DC Jazz Festival, Rochester Jazz Festival, Atlanta Jazz Festival, Detroit Jazz Festival, AAPI Jazz Festival, Zandari Festa (Seoul, SK), The Kitchen, Roulette, Symphony Space, ZK Matthews Hall (Pretoria, ZA), The University of North Texas, Temple University, The University of Rochester, Berklee College of Music, and virtually all major Jazz Clubs in NYC as well as in cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, London and more.

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